BUDDHIST BIRTH STORIES; OR, JĀTAKA TALES. THE OLDEST COLLECTION OF FOLK-LORE EXTANT: BEING THE JĀTAKATTHAVAṆṆANĀ, _For the first time Edited in the Original Pāli_ BY V. FAUSBÖLL, AND TRANSLATED BY T. W. RHYS DAVIDS. TRANSLATION. _VOLUME I._ LONDON: TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 1880. [_All rights reserved._] HERTFORD: PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS. TO GEHEIM-RATH PROFESSOR DOCTOR STENZLER MY FIRST GUIDE IN ORIENTAL STUDIES IN CONGRATULATION ON HIS ‘DOCTOR JUBILÄUM’ AND IN DEEP RESPECT FOR HIS PROFOUND SCHOLARSHIP THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY HIS GRATEFUL PUPIL THE AUTHOR. TABLE OF CONTENTS. TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION. PAGE PART I. _The Book of Birth Stories, and their Migration to the West._ Orthodox Buddhist belief concerning it. Two reasons for the value attached to it i-iv Selected Stories.--1. The Ass in the Lion’s Skin v 2. The Talkative Tortoise viii 3. The Jackal and the Crow xii 4. The Wise Judge xiv 5. Sakka’s Presents xvi 6. A Lesson for Kings xxii The Kalilag and Damnag Literature xxix Origin of ‘Æsop’s’ Fables xxxii The Barlaam and Josaphat Literature xxxvi Other Migrations of the Buddhist Tales xli Greek and Buddhist Fables xliii Solomon’s Judgment xliv Summary of Part I. xlviii PART II. _The Birth Stories in India._ Jātakas derived from the Pāli Piṭakas lii Jātakas in the Cariyā Piṭaka and Jātaka Mālā liii Jātakas in the Buddhavaŋsa lv Jātakas at the Council of Vesāli lvii Jātakas on the Ancient Sculptures lix The Pāli Names of the Jātakas lx The Jātakas one of the Navaŋgāni lxii Authorship of our present Collection lxiii Jātakas not included in our present Collection lxvii Jātakas in post-Buddhistic Sanskrit Literature lxviii Form of the Jātakas.--The Introductory Stories lxxiv